Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Outside Connection Two

As I've mentioned before I am an AVID Pinterest user...mostly of the Humor section (:

As I was searching the other day I found this picture...
I didn't see the original ad but I wish I had.  It is about time advertisements begin to show diverse families.When people began to boycott...they retaliated with two dads instead of two moms...clever.
I am a toddler teacher at an early learning center...a very ritzy, upscale, expensive as shit one at that (and it's the only downfall of my job)  Well let me tell you, when a new student started who had two moms it was the ONLY thing the other teachers talked about for days after our annual "Ice Cream Social".  Why?  Because it's still not what society considers to be "normal"...which is why the JCPenney was boycotted as well.

Vagina Monologues--very very delayed

So I know I'm really delayed posting this.  I didn't think we had to post a blog about the Vagina Monologues if we went--I thought we had to write something about so I was all prepared to like hand in a typed thing about my "experience" or show proof that I went or something.  Nonetheless, this is extremely delayed and I apologize.

I did go to Vagina Monologues back in February (the Friday night performance...the 15th) and I was really excited about it.  I took my sister, who at the time was 17, her best friend who is 16.  My older cousin came...she's 25 and her friend who is also 25 came.  I'm not sure how the topic came up but I was telling Brooke a couple weeks ago in class that my sister's friend (16) was so...I don't even know the right word to use haha...nervous? confused? misunderstanding of the whole thing?  And that is why I took them.  I thought they should be exposed to what is going on in the world, I thought it was time to open their eyes to something bigger and more important than their stupid iPhones...I wanted them to see what it is like to stand up for something.  After taking GEND 200 last semester with Chris and Dr. Bogad my perspective about life in general has changed--while my sister and her friend sat there jaw-dropped and nervous the whole night I sat there feeling empowered.  Later when we went to dinner I asked what bothered them the most---my sister's friend basically said she felt awkward, she felt "weird" talking about her body like that.  I however, felt that it made me feel less awkward thinking of and talking about my body and my vagina.

I guess you can also say I felt a lot of school pride that night-- that we go to a school that, although isn't 100% accepting of everything and everyone still allows us to express ourselves.  I say this because my cousin who came with me is a Providence College Alumni ('09 maybe?) and she was so excited to see Vagina Monologues because her senior year it was supposed to be performed at PC.  However, because PC is a Catholic university, it was cancelled due to it being "conflicting teachings" or some lame excuse like that.

I hope even though my sister and her best friend were uneasy about the experience, they at least learned something...and with my sister being a student at RIC this upcoming fall there's plenty of time to make sure I open her eyes REAAAAAALLLLY wide to the rest of the world outside of her phone (;

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Talking Point Eleven: Teens Talk Back

The first thing I did when beginning my search for this blog was Google-ing "teens talk back" and like Julie mentioned in her blog most of the entire first page of results is several parenting websites--how to talk to your kids, how to control your teenager, how to deal with your rebellious teenager etc.  

However, the very first result that came up on my search was Teens Talk Back Videos  This website was full of videos teenagers had made regarding their opinions and experiences with issues such as: cyber bullying, social media, friendships, meeting people from the internet, posting inappropriate photos online, relationships,  broken promises etc.  Basically anything a teenager may have to deal, these teenagers have posted a video for it.  There's this preconceived idea that teenagers don't care and have no opinions and that issues like this do not concern them.  However, this website proves otherwise.  This website shows that teenagers are interested in what goes on and (unlike adults may think) can carry on intelligent conversations about serious issues.  They have opinions and teenagers relate to other teenagers.

I also found this Dear Abby news article as I was searching. In her letter to "Dear Abby" this teen girl was talking about conforming to her parents religion.  However, I thought the way she said "I don't understand why adults tell me to be an independent thinker, to embrace myself, and then put me down for not conforming. Why is it outrageous to come to your own conclusions, speculate, challenge accepted ideas..."  This girl is absolute correct.  Parents and society are always trying to tell teenagers be who you want to be, express yourself...just do it in a way that fits into society's norm.  You want to to challenge the accepted idea?  Sure! Just don't challenge it publicly where you'll be considered outside of what is considered "normal" or accepted.  The girl then goes on to say that parents want their children to smile and nod and be that "normal" accept all society says so they can have the "superficial satisfaction" of saying they raised their child correctly when all the while the parent is being challenged and nothing is really as it seems.




THOUGHTS:
I think sometimes "adults" forget that they were once teenagers (which ties into our course assumption: teenagers are not some alien life form.)  Adults move on from that "phase" in their life and forget that they once lived through and faced the same challenges.  Technically at 20 I'm considered an adult but I look back at "being a teenager" as if I still am one.


Comments for Class:
I'm interested to see what everyone else found.  I'm interested to see if others found the same results I did, parenting websites and such, as the first results.


 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Outside Connection One

I've been home in bed for the past two days with some really, really nasty version of the stomach bug...I can barely move (that's why I wasn't in class yesterday).  So I have no interest in watching television but I have been on Pinterest and I found this picture that immediately made me think of the Pilot episode of Glee.





In the Pilot episode when Mr. Schuester is telling the principal he'll take over Glee Club, he is explaining to him that it is important because everyone feels invisible (and then lightens it up but throwing in "that's why everyone has a Myspace.")  When I saw this picture it made me think back to this scene because although Mr. Schu was throwing in the Myspace comment for humor, it has some truth behind it.  Teenagers often do feel invisible and feel like no one is listen and feel that what they are saying doesn't matter (which can be related back to Hine's article as well).  Teenagers often go to social media as their outlet for expressing themselves--they write because whether or not anyone is listening it's getting out there.  Teenagers are always looking for a way to be heard whether it is through social media or music or art or graffiti.  They write to tell what they cannot verbally say or what they are trying to verbally and just cannot find the words.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Talking Point Ten: Glee!

I would just like to note that before today I had never watched Glee before (besides the media artifact that I believe Jacki, Eian & Tyne did) so I know nothing about the show or the characters (although I did do a brief "background check" on all them so I could become better acquainted with their character lines/stories.  After watching the Pilot I was like "I want and need to watch more I need to know what happens!"  Well, then I watched Never Been Kissed and Furt and some things really bothered me and I was like WTF how could a show like this even be on television; hmmm maybe not.  We'll see though; I haven't actually decided if it's going to become my guilty pleasure or not haha



Episode One: Pilot
In the pilot episode it was evident that McKinley High School was/is filled with stereotypical "cliques."   When Mr. Schuester meets with Coach Sue to recruit some of the cheerleaders to New Directions she tries to explain to him "the way this school works"--you have your jocks and your popular kids (the football players and the cheerleaders) and then you have your nobody's and she tells him that the glee club is basically way below the nobody's.  Coach Sue tells Mr. Shu that "children like to know where they stand" and if he tries to mix groups it just won't work. **I found it amusing or ironic I guess that throughout the episodes the students are reffered to as kids or children---they're in high school, they are teenagers**  I related this back to Thomas Hine's article the Rise and Fall of the American Teenager.  The argument Hine was trying to make was that teenagers feel like they have no definitive place in the world and that adults do not allow them into society or the work force and social classes so they have no choice really but to find their place in their own environment--high school.  Teenagers are always looking for their place in the world, especially in high school.  They need to feel like they belong somewhere.  Like Mr. Schuester said, everyone feels invisible.  
I have to say I was disappointed with Finn in this episode.  In the beginning when the football was 'preparing to throw Kurt into the dumpster' Finn had this look of remorse on his face and he just looked like he wanted to stop the situation but was too afraid of standing up to his friends and losing their respect as their leader--being a leader is exerting your masculinity .  Instead, he took the bystander role and let them throw a kid in the dumpster.  Maybe it's me over-thinking but I found it ironic that the show chose to throw the gay character in dumpster--almost as if they were trying to portray the message that gay characters are waste/trash?  Finn chose to be a bystander yet scenes later you hear him explaining how he's not afraid of being called a loser and how he feels trapped inside his body wanting to be more than what he is.  I found it pretty ironic that the song he's caught singing is Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore by REO Speedwagon:
And I can't fight this feeling anymore, I've forgotten what I started fighting for


Episode Two: Never Been Kissed
This episode is where I started to have some problems.  For one, Karofsky is the biggest bully I've ever seen and the cheerleader who made the "million gay jokes" was completely uncalled for and somebody should have called her right there.  Everybody wanted to defend Kurt but why didn't anyone step up right there?  I thought the ZERO TOLERANCE HARASSMENT POLICY at the other high school was awesome--my high school had that, actually I believe it is a city policy.  I remember my superintendent coming at the beginning of every quarter to give a speech at an assembly and he would always start it off by saying "if there is one thing I hope you remember from school it's this: every student has the right to come to school free from harm and worry."  Hearing that four times a year since 6th grade and it really is the only thing I think I can remember exactly.
 There was a part in the episode where someone said (I don't remember who or in what context, sorry) if you're gay your life's just going to be miserable.  Well it seemed to be that Krofsky who was struggling with who he was the most miserable.  I believe what Blaine said to Kurt is true about refusing to be the victim and not letting the bully or bullies run you out although I know that is easier said than done.  Like the girl who just stood there in the one scene when Krofsky pushed Kurt into the locker--do something.
There was bullying also towards the teachers in this episode which I connected with our Course Assumption Teenagers are not some alien life form.  When the football uses the coach's "ugliness" basically to "cool off" during make-out sessions with their girlfriends it hurts her feelings when she finds out.  As Mr. Schuester explains, everyone is scarred by high school and students forget that teachers have been there--teachers were teenagers too and they too have feelings.  The football team didn't realize her feelings were being damaged and hurt; they were using another's insecurities as a way to raise themselves up.

Episode Three: Furt
Alright.  There was absolutely no reason why Finn couldn't stand up to Krofsky and defend Kurt.  Sam who kept trying to argue that being on top meant that you didn't get made fun of and nobody called you a loser defended Kurt.  But Finn, his soon to be step brother, was too worried about losing the respect of the football team and losing his position at quarter back and his place at school to defend "the gay kid."  He felt his masculinity would be compromised by defending Kurt by losing others respect he would lose his sense of masculinity.  I thought it was awesome when Kurt's dad called Finn out about not defending him.  I have to admit, I did tear up at the wedding when Finn told Kurt that he was his brother and he would defend him until the end and he danced with him and all that lovey brother stuff--but I'm a sap for a good family story anyway. 
 I also found it awesome when Finn told Kurt he was the strongest man (or some variations of those words) he knew--Kurt, in my opinion, is more of a man than Finn.  Kurt has courage and strength.  He stood up to Krofsky, he knows who he is and is proud of himself and he refuses to be the victim anymore.  He is not afraid to be him whereas Finn is still shying aware, afraid of losing the respect of others.

SO Krofsky was expelled, GREAT! and then he was allowed back in school.  Why? because no one witnessed the act because that is how it works.  And that is all I have to say about that because it pisses me off to no end.  My sister was bullied for her weight, that's how her eating disorder started and nothing was done.  My cousin was bullied when she came out as a lesbian, nothing was done.  My cousin is presently being bullied so bad she hid in the bathroom everyday until she just stopped going to school all together--and still nothing is being done.  

I found this video on YouTube, I thought it went with this week's texts. 
 These teens were all bullied to the point of suicide.


Plot Misses on Glee?
I found this blog while I was searching Glee, it focuses on Never Been Kissed.  I thought it was pretty interesting.





For Class:
Other than these three episodes I don't know much about the show so in class I would like to find out more about the overall message Glee sends and if these three episodes are a representations of the show overall.  I would also like to talk about what it means to be a "man" in the context of this show.

p.s. I also apologize for the long post, I guess I had a lot to say haha

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Talking Point Nine: Hip Hop (Reflection) Tricia Rose

The reading this week was a little different for me simply because it was completely new to me.  It is a topic I've never really discussed or studied before so in a sense I was kind of out of my element I suppose.  Nonetheless I thought Tricia Rose's Q&A with TIME Magazine and her YouTube were both really interesting.

The extent of my knowledge of the Hip Hop community is small; I never really listened to hip-hop occasionally I'd like a song but I wouldn't say I was a Hip Hop fan....except for Tupac, I loved Tupac & Notorious B.I.G haha.


I'd like to point out that I thought it was really important that Tricia Rose made it a point in her Q&A to let TIME magazine and its readers know that no one is right about hip-hop and that her book The Hip Hop Wars takes on all sides of the arguments.
--I thought it was awesome that right off the bat she was letting her readers know that there was no clear, definitive conclusion or right answer and that as an author she was not going to take a single stance on the matter but show you all the different stances and sides of the argument.

During her interview she talks about the "underground" in reference to the hip hop community:
"That's why they call it the underground-because it is in fact buried.  But it's not dead; it's an underworld.  It's like the Matrix, an alternative world that has its flaws but is part of a living force."
She's talking about the underground in reference to commercial hip-hop being dead but having a rich world of hip-hop (the underground) that is still very much alive...flawed but still living and thriving.

I also found it really interesting that hip-hop wasn't always the rhyming it is today, that it had political content in it such as education, learning about one's history, asking questions and making better choices to try and better yourself and change society.



In one of her Q&A's Tricia Rose talked about (in a nutshell) images that sell.  She explains that sexist images, sexuality, sexual domination and racial stereotypes can found throughout hip-hop culture and why?  because they sell.  The people in charge of these images have the power to portray people of color in such violent, stereotypical ways and portray women as objects because they can...because it is the view people are forced to have of people of color so it sells so it becomes financial gain and those in charge gain and maintain power.



For Class:
I'd like to talk more about the images found in hip-hop culture such as sexist images, sexuality, sexual domination and specific racial stereotypes.  I'd also like to discuss why hip-hop has also been seen as such a violent culture.  Because this topic was so new to me I am really interested to see what everyone else thought of the Q&A and the YouTube and everyone else's thoughts on hip-hop culture.













Monday, April 1, 2013

Talking Point Eight: Masculinity, Homophobia & Violence; Kimmel & Mahler

For this reading I decided to do a Connections and Extended Comments blog and try (I feel like this article had a lot of great points and I don't want to miss any) to make connections with Thomas Hine's Rise and Fall of the American Teenager and Linda Christensen's Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us as well.  I felt like this article could relate to past articles but a lot of you brought up really good points that I wanted to work with as well.

As Linette pointed out in her blog which Julie extended on, socialization plays more of a role than biology does in the construction of masculinity.  I agree that it is much more than your biological make-up that makes you an aggressive person--I believe your home life, the environment you are brought up in, your care givers etc all have an affect on how you turn out--boys and girls.

For example, Jess wrote in her blog about how Kimmel used the example of violent video games, music, television etc.  Teens see the violence in these games and on television and get this idea in their heads that it is suddenly okay for them to go to school and do this.
This reminded me of Christensen's article.  On the first page of her article she writes "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live and dreams.  This indoctrination hits young children especially hard." (126) This is Christensen's secret education.  Teens are picking up on this secret education in these games and television shows and music videos and wanted to go out and recreate what they are being taught.  They're not grasping that those depictions are not real life (as Jess explains in her blog).  However, violence in video games, on television etc is not always the reason...as Kimmel writes there is no real significant solid proof.  

Hine's main argument is that teens do not "fit in" in society or in social classes, they do not fit in the work force etc.  This results in them constantly and continuously looking for a place to fit in.  Because of the constant search society is losing them to whatever group is willing to accept them first (Hine sees this as a problem-in-the-making")  When teens feel unaccepted then have a tendency to lash out for attention.
For example, Jess wrote in her blog about the boys who committed the shootings were "victims of endless bullying and 'gay-baiting'."  All of these boys were tortured by their peers and classmates and like Jess says---the classmates show no remorse for how they treated these boys.  Jess points out that we are only human and we can only take so much before we break and as I said above, lash out.  I agree--a person can only take so much verbal, physical, mental, social...abuse of any kind before enough is enough.  Not that by any means that is justification for a school shooting.



For Class:
I'm interested to see where others stand on whether socialization plays more of a role than biology does.  Also, I didn't write about it in my blog simply because it just wasn't a point I chose to touch on but boys & their emotions.  I'm curious to see where everyone stands on that & the issue Jess and Daury raised about mental illness



Sunday, March 24, 2013

Talking Point Seven: Cinderella Ate My Daughter (Peggy Orenstein) and Brave

While I read Cinderella Ate My Daughter last semester it was interesting to re-read again this semester in the context of connecting it with Brave.  I noticed I highlighted and noted different parts of the reading and picked up on things I hadn't last semester.

In the beginning of Orenstein's article she writes:
"...the passive, personality-free princess swept off by a prince (who is enchanted solely by her beauty) to live in a happily-ever-after that he ultimately controls."

This particular quote reminded me of Brave; Brave is not the stereotypical Disney princess movie we are all used to. There is no princess with a flowy gown and perfect hair who gets prince charming in the end.  Instead we see a strong-willed girl, determined to change her mother's mind and get what she wants and ultimately she does.  In no way is Merida the passive princess Orenstein is talking about.  She is not swept off her feet and whisked away by her prince.  Merida is the princess with determination, she defies the stereotype Disney has been shoving down our throats for years.  Her beauty is not what is important to her, neither is finding prince charming.  Making her mother listen and being able to live her life the way she wants...being able to just be herself--that is what she values.


Orenstein also writes:
"...teenage girls and college students who hold conventional beliefs about femininity--especially those that emphasize beauty and pleasing behavior--are less ambitious and more likely to be depressed than their peers."

When we see Merida in Brave we are not seeing a girl emphasizing her tiny waist or her flawless face.  She is certainly not trying to please anybody but herself.  Teenage girls have this belief that they need to be beautiful and please everyone but as we see in Brave that is not the case.  Sometimes the only person we need to please is our self and that is where beauty comes from.

On page 17 Orenstein writes:
"...they now feel they must not only "have it all" but be it all: Cinderella and Supergirl.  Aggressive and agreeable.  Smart and stunning."

This quote reminded me of Merida because in a sense she kind of compromised.  She was aggressive, definitely not agreeable though.  However she was smart and stunning in her own right.  She knew what she wanted and was determined and was not going to let anything stop her, not even her mother.  Teenage girls today feel they have to be everything all at once--be everything but be it in moderation if you must.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Final Project Ideas

For the final project I want to tie this class in to something that is really important to me which is the issue of body image.  While we were working on the midterm project I had mentioned to Jess that I wanted to somehow incorporate the texts we've learned this semester into the topic and rising issue of body image and how it is affecting our teenagers today.  As I've posted on my blog before (I think I've posted it for this class, maybe I'm confusing it with last semester) my sister has been battling an eating disorder for the past seven years so I see first hand every day what type of influence society and the media can have on a person's self image

of course it stem's from much more than just the media but my focus for the project would be the media's influence

I feel the issue is something I know a lot about & is something I have a lot of interest in--I don't think I would want to focus on just negative body image though because I think the media also influences teen to have a positive body image when presented in the right way.

I would definitely want to work in a group--I love having other people to bounce ideas off of and see things through another set of eyes.



Friday, March 1, 2013

Midterm Post!

For my midterm project I'm working in a group with Jessica Parenteau, Alexa Comparone and Noelle Patenaude.  We are going to show what we've learned so far this semester by interviewing students around campus and getting their perspectives about teenagers.  We're going to ask them about four questions, each question relates to a different course reading we've done so far this semester.

The interviews so far have been really mixed--the answers have been really quite different; we're really not sure what we're going to get from people but we're interested and excited to see (:

Each of us is responsible for a course reading as well that corresponds to a particular question as well.  So far we've done two days worth of interviews and are going to meet on Sunday night.  Over the weekend I'm going to re-read & analyze my article which is Hine's Rise and Fall of the American Teenager.

I'm excited to see how this project is going to turn out because we've never really worked with iMovie before!

Talking Point Five (Hyperlinks) Michael Wesch




I chose to read the article From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able: Learning in New Media Environments and think Wesch raises an important and widely debated topic about technology in the classroom and how it is affecting both teachers/professors and students. 
 Wesch says:
 "...this new media environment demonstrates to us that the idea of learning as acquiring information
is no longer a message we can afford to send to our students, and that we need to start redesigning
our learning environments to address, leverage, and harness the new media environment now
permeating our classrooms."

I found this really interesting blog? (I think it's a blog) Redesigning the 21st century classroom by a woman named Susan Murphy .  She is a writer, professional speaker, teacher and digital media specialist (to name a few of her many talents).  In her blog she talk about incorporating technology in her classroom and how she had to "re-design" her classroom to keep up with the 21st century.  She too talks about the "traditional classroom" style like Wesch does and believes that the rows facing an authority figure is not an effective teaching style.  She allows technology in her classroom and in fact even encourages her students to use it..She believes teachers/professors need to embrace this new advancement in teaching otherwise "we risk making ourselves obsolete."

Wesch is arguing that the reality of the 21st century is that we as students are digital learners.  Technology isn't foreign to us like it is to our professors and teachers, parents etc.  We see our laptops and iPads and smartphones as not only means for communications but also educational tools...we have the entire universe of knowledge right at our fingertips.  I found this YouTube video that I thought was really interesting and went along with Wesch's article.  A group of students K-12 made this video to argue the need for more technology in their schools!



I found these survey numbers, I thought I'd share them with you all (:



In Wesch's article he talks about how teachers/professors find that students are using technology in the wrong way.  They are sitting in class on Facebook or Twitter or other social media sites.  However, I feel that teachers/professors could actually social media sites to their advantage and I found this really awesome info-graphic that outlines how to do so!

A Teacher's Guide to Social Media



Questions/Comments:
Who is suffering from this Knowledgeable vs. Knowledge-able dilemma?  The students or the teachers? 
 Or is it possibly both?

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Talking Point Four (Argument) Hine

In the reading this week I think Hine is arguing the importance of being a teenager in not only our society but just being a teenager in general.  I know it's the very beginning of the article but after reading and going through the whole thing I felt that Hine made a really crucial point bringing up his 'misery of youth' yearbook story.  He used a quote he had written for his own yearbook story: 
"Maybe I'm something special, and maybe I'm not.  
Maybe I'm here for a reasonand I might be going somewhere after this, 
but then gain I might not.  I wonder where I fit in?"



I thought this was absolutely genius for describing the struggle youths face through their teenage years.  Hine is arguing that teens are struggling---their struggling to figure where exactly they belong and fit in.  He explains that every person has been a teenager and because of this we should be such experts on the way teenagers think/act but we're not.  We become "adults" and we all of a sudden forget what it was like to be a teenager.  Hine argues that this concept is really quite simple it is because "we don't remember ourselves as teenagers....we remember ourselves as ourselves." (2)  
I thought about this for a while.  Was Hine's argument right?  Of course it is.  I remember myself
as a teenager as clear as day but I don't remember being any different than I am now which is what I think Hine is talking about.



Hine is also arguing that the way teenagers grow up is influenced by the media and the people they are surrounded.  The media often portrays teenagers to be less capable of doing things and less competent than they really are.  Hine argues that because teenagers are portrayed as less capable we see the rise ans fall of the American Dream...in several different ways.  One way we see it is by dropping out of school, becoming pregnant and joining gangs  Another way is by simply growing up, cutting their hair off, removing their tattoos, giving up their youth and just going with the flow into adulthood.
The removing tattoos part made me laugh.  I have tattoos and I love my tattoos, they're more than
 just ink on my body to me but that it neither here not there.  I had an argument (or strongly worded discussion if you will) with my grandmother(who is very open-minded I should add) about what mine and 
my cousins & my dad's tattoos are going to look like when we're older.  She told me that  maybe we should
look into tattoo removal when we became old adults  (like her age) because our tattoos wont be as good looking so I showed her this picture:
this is all I could think of while reading Hine's explanation of how the American Dream was falling.

Hine also argued that teenagers need the option and the freedom to become themselves.  Scary thought right?  Hine argues "we love the idea of youth but are prone to panic about the young." (11)  As adults we find the youth and youth qualities exciting and fresh and "new" again but at the same time they are also very unattractive.  They are unstable and lack substance and direction--no substance & no direction? Now what kind of future would that bring us?  As adults it wouldn't bring us much of a future at all but for a teenager, that's the exciting part having no direction to be able to find your direction; being able to make mistakes along the way to learn from them, to be able to choose the path that is going to be right for you and help you become the person you want to be.








Comments/Thoughts:
The transition from "teenage-hood" to "adulthood" isn't so clear cut and simple.  It's not like passing Go in Monopoly and knowing you've made it; there's really no defining moment...I think it's personal.  My moment of what made me feel/know I was an adult may not be the same as someone else's.  And who is to say you'll fully transition to an adult?  'Cause I know at 20 I sure as hell don't feel like I could conquer the adult world. Is it age?  Is it thought process?  I'm interested to hear what the rest of the class thinks on Tuesday!


P.S. I spend tons of time on Pinterest, that's where my pictures are from. 
 Just figured I should give them some credit <3

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Talking Point Two (Reflection) Christensen

While reading this piece I couldn't help but relate it back to a piece I had read with Dr. Bogad last semester (Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein).  The two pieces were so similar and raised similar points; it was interesting to see a few of the same concepts come up again in Christensen's piece.

Christensen's section on Cinderella and the variations of it is what really made me stop and say to myself MIND BLOWN.  Cinderella is my favorite Disney movie, fairy tale, story etc. Why? Up until about seven years ago it was because it was the story of a girl who was thrown into an unfortunate situation--forced to live with an evil stepmother and wicked stepsisters.  This poor girl cooked for them, cleaned for them and had nothing for herself but yet never once felt sorry--that was what I loved about Cinderella.  Now Cinderella is exactly what Christensen and her students said it is: a story that implies happiness means you must first transform yourself (your clothes and your physical appearance) and get the man.  Cinderella couldn't even go to the ball without changing her clothes first...she had to get a beautiful gown first.


Cinderella & the Cindy Ellie version sends the message to young females that in order to "win" and get the man you must be beautiful.  This message/concept now puts young females in competition with their peers which leads me to Christensen's other point of sexual stereotyping and adoration of beauty in children's cartoons and movies.

Christensen and her students point out that these seemingly innocent stories teach us to look for our faults

So these seemingly innocent stories are turning this:

"as Tinkerbell inspects her tiny body in a mirror only to find that her miniature hips are simply too huge, she shows us how to turn the mirror into an enemy and this is scenario is repeated in girls locker rooms all over the world" 



INTO THIS:
AND THIS 
Body Image is a huge deal to me.  These seemingly innocent stories are not as innocent as they seem; they have a much bigger impact than people realize.  Young girls are striving to be what they see represented in the media and let's face it---it's not so easily attainable.  Speaking from personal experience, I've seen how the media can warp a young girl's mind; for seven years I've watched my sister dislike her body and hate herself everyday for it.  Is the media completely to blame?  Oh god of course not!  It's just another added component that drives and feeds into what's already there. 



"Because we can never look like Cinderella we begin to hate ourselves.  The Barbie Syndrome starts as we begin a lifelong search for the perfect body."  
What I think people sometimes tend to forget is that young women are not the only ones suffering from this Barbie Syndrome.  Young males are starting to have an unattainable standard set by the media as well.  Young men and women are growing up in a society where they are trying not to give in but sometimes don't even realize that they are.




Comments:
I realize my opinions may differ from everyone else's on this topic and that's okay.  The issue of body image and adoration of beauty in our society is so near and dear to me that whenever it comes up it just like...ignites this flame in me and I just like BOOM and go; I live it everyday.  I'm interested to see in class on Tuesday what this article represented to other people! 






Sunday, January 27, 2013

Talking Point One (Quotes) Media & Ideology-Croteau

I would just like to point out that even though I've already read this piece, it still wasn't an easy piece to read....especially now that I had to look at it through a new set of eyes and a different mindset! This piece was still pretty dense and although it is full of many important points I pulled out some quotes that I felt were the best representations of the article and the ones that I kept referring back to.

1. "Media sell both products and ideas, both personalities and worldviews; the notion that mass media products and cultural values are fundamentally intertwined has gained broad public acceptance." page 161
>When I read this section of the article I thought to myself "how completely true." The media is basically selling us who we want to be in every aspect, no matter which way you look at it. By promoting products the media is encouraging you to be a certain way and by having certain people endorse those products the media is basically saying when you use/have this product you're like the person endorsing it.

2. "In essence, the media accumulation of media images suggests what is "normal" and what is "deviant." This articulation is accomplished, in large part, by the fact that popular media, particularly television and mass advertising, have a tendency to display a remarkably narrow range of behaviors and lifestyles, marginalizing or neglecting people who are "different" from the mass-mediated norm." page 163
>So this section really stuck out to me. I think the media's idea of normal can go F it's self (: The media portrays this lifestyle that is pretty much unattainable. For instance, women are supposed to be skinny & beautiful & the reality is not every woman out there is a size 0, women are beautiful in their own way but no that's too "different" and unacceptable. The media portrays men as having to be muscular and toned and cocky when most men are just sweet, sensitive guys but NOPE sorry that's too "different" as well. The media portrays such a narrow view.

3. "Media representations are intertwined with questions of power and ideology because the process of giving meaning to events suggests that, potentially, there are multiple definitions of reality." page 168

About Me! (cliche title I know)

Hi Everyone!
My name is Celine, I'm 20 and a junior here at RIC double majoring in Psychology & Gender Studies (after taking Dr. Bogad & Chris's class last semester haha)  Their class was by far my favorite class of the semester and the place I always felt most comfortable at school so I thought what the hell I'll come back for more this semester (:

I'm a really ambitious person, I have big plans for myself.  I hope to someday work with teens with eating disorders--the issue of Eating Disorders is very important to me (if you're interested you can read my blog from last semester although I have no doubt it will come up again this semester)  WHICH REMINDS ME! here's a link to my blog from last semester in case anyone's interested:  

Celine's Blogging Experience Part 1

When I'm not in class I work....a lot.  I'm an assistant toddler teacher at an early learning center (I love my kids!) and I work at the ice rink in downtown Providence.  When I'm not in class or working, you can find me catching up on homework or sleeping (I'm almost always behind on one of the two.)  This is the first semester in three years that I have class everyday so I'm interested to see how this goes..
Other than working and school I do have a life! I like to read and watch movies and spend time with friends and family.

My class with Dr. Bogad & Chris last semester was amazing and I have no doubt this semester will be the same, not only did I learn so much and gain a new perspective but I also met some pretty awesome people that I still continue to talk and I'm looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of you as well!